The Orchards School

The Orchards School has demonstrated good overall performance across various areas, including the quality of education, behavior, personal development, and leadership. The school, which has not been inspected before under section 5 of the Education Act 2005, has benefitted from its association with The Black Pear Trust, leading to notable improvements in areas such as pupil behavior and personal development. Staff and parents express positive views regarding the nurturing environment that the school fosters, allowing pupils to feel safe and thrive academically and socially.

Strengths

• Pupils feel safe and supported due to the nurturing environment.
• The curriculum is well planned and sequenced, promoting solid knowledge acquisition.
• High expectations for pupil achievement have resulted in good outcomes for most students.
• There are strong systems in place for identifying and supporting pupils with SEND.
• Effective behavior management strategies have led to good conduct in lessons and throughout the school.

Areas for Improvement

• A minority of foundation subjects lack robust implementation, affecting pupil learning outcomes.
• Disadvantaged pupils show persistently high rates of absence, impacting their learning.

Admissions: local authority offers data from the Department for Education. A school is oversubscribed when at least 5% of the families who put it first were not offered a place, and undersubscribed when everyone who put it first got in but 10% or more of its places were unfilled in the Department's school capacity survey (the latest survey is used for entry years it does not cover). Places: Department for Education, School capacity, from local authorities' annual survey as at 1 May. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024–25); the survey was not run in 2020. Places include sixth form places. Forecasts are the local authority's own for the school's planning area, an area it uses to plan places that is not the school's catchment area. The forecast starts from a head count in 2025; the dashed line is the Department's estimate of places in that area, including those the authority has firm plans for. Planned places are cumulative, and only those with firm plans are counted.

In 2024–25 pupils at The Orchards School attended 92.8% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 23.0% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 13.0%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 0.9% of pupils at The Orchards School were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). No pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 The Orchards School had 19.1 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 14.7% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 15.7%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26, 13.5% of pupils at The Orchards School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.0% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded primary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2024–25 The Orchards School received £9,074 and spent £8,634 for each of its 233 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £238,000 (£1,021 per pupil).

Across all 8 schools of The Black Pear Trust, income was £7,808 and spending £7,915 per pupil.

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24). Academy figures include a share of the trust's central services, shared out by pupil numbers, and are rounded to the nearest £1,000. Premises costs were defined differently from 2024, so compare them across that gap with care.

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Bromsgrove · Worcestershire local authority: places and applications

The Orchards School is part of The Black Pear Trust, which runs 8 schools. The nearest others:

• St George's CofE School Kidderminster
• Woodrush High School Wythall
• Carnforth School Worcester
• Hollymount School Worcester
• Upper Arley CofE Primary School Bewdley
• Brockhampton Primary School Bromyard
• Honeybourne Primary Academy Evesham

What is The Orchards School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for The Orchards School is Good, from an inspection in May 2024.

When was The Orchards School last inspected by Ofsted?

The Orchards School was last inspected in May 2024.

How many pupils does The Orchards School have?

The Orchards School has 230 pupils on roll.

What age range does The Orchards School cover?

The Orchards School for pupils aged 3 to 9.

Where is The Orchards School?

The Orchards School is at Perryfields Road, Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, B61 8QN.